Active cases in Bengal slide to 30,792 -The state hit yet another peak in daily recoveries with 4,479 cases

Bengal now has a total of 4.28 lakh Covid-19 cases, including over 3.9 lakh recoveries and 7,610 deaths

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |   15.11.20: Bengal’s recovery rate in the Covid-19 pandemic on Saturday crossed 91 per cent, its rise unbroken since October 22 as the state hit yet another peak in daily recoveries with 4,479, aiding the 19th consecutive day of drop in total active cases.

“Our recovery rate was 87.44 on October 22. This is now a 23-day spell of surge (in recovery rates). Today, it is 91.04. We are only slightly behind the national rate (93.03 per cent) now,” said a minister.

The minister added that total active cases dropped by 6,398 since Vijaya Dashami, to 30,792 on Saturday.

“It (the figure) has gone back to the October 12 level. This ongoing 19-day spell of drop in total active cases is the best so far (in the state) in this pandemic. Right after Puja, it could not have come at a better time. The record for daily recoveries has been reset 25 times in 26 days,” he said.

The state on Saturday reported 3,823 new Covid-19 cases, less than 4,000 for the 19th consecutive day since the end of Durga Puja. Bengal reported 53 deaths, 13 each from Calcutta and North 24-Parganas.

Bengal now has a total of 4.28 lakh Covid-19 cases, including over 3.9 lakh recoveries and 7,610 deaths.

In the 19 days since Dashami on October 26, Bengal reported 80,010 recoveries and 74,676 new infections, undoing much of the damage from a major spike in infections — and relatively fewer recoveries — for six weeks prior to the festival.

Calcutta High Court had intervened to prevent a worsening of the pandemic over Durga Puja. Infection data from Puja days, largely available by now, showed the intervention was effective. The high court issued similar instructions for Kali Puja, Diwali and Chhath.

With 44,127 tests on Saturday, the state’s total test count went past 51.8 lakh, at 57,557 tests per million people. The positive confirmation rate is 8.27 per cent.

Of the total death toll, 6,370, or 83.7 per cent, were attributed to comorbidities. The state’s mortality is 1.77, still less than the national rate of 1.47 per cent.

The state reported 31.19 per cent occupancy in the 13,508 beds earmarked for Covid-19 in the 101 dedicated hospitals for the pandemic, besides over 4.46 lakh telemedicine consultations so far this pandemic.